Nice sander, needs some improvement

I used this sander on a deck and I ran it hard for about 45 min at a time and it never overheated. After about a week of heavy use and abuse it would not turn on. I got it repaired under warranty(the switch went bad) Overall I really like the tool, it works better than a Porter-cable I used. I wish it had a fan or something to clear the dust out better. It will get clogged if you close the dust ejection port.

Should have read the reviews

Before buying this DeWalt sander, I failed to read the reviews. Now that it is on its return trip, I read them and concur with most. That I bought the DeWalt sander because I have other DeWalt tools that are great. Not my experience with this sander. ^M
My problem was it plugging up with sanding dust and required the careful extraction of sand dust to get the collector to work. I didn't have a problem with over-heating, but felt the tracking device didn't function (however did not have a problem keeping the belt tracking from a visual check). When the air blower passages were clean, the sander functioned well. But after a few minutes of sanding, I'd have to take it apart enough to remove the blockage ahead of the blower fan (good to have a high powered vacuum). Not a good design, IMO. I was disappointed.

RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!!!!!!!!!!

WE BOUGHT THIS DEWALT BELT SANDER YESTERDAY TO STRIP OUR RED OAK FLOOR OF ITS STAIN, AFTER ABOUT 15 MINUTES OF USE IT STARTED SMOKING, WE LET IT COOL OFF, WENT BACK LATER AND USED IT ABOUT 45 MINS., WENT BACK AGAIN AND WHEN I PULLED THE TRIGGER IT STARTED THEN STOPPED, IT NEVER CAME BACK ON!!^M
RETURNED IT TO LOWES TODAY FOR A NEW ONE, GOT HOME STARTED USING IT AGAIN ON THE SAME PROJECT, 15 MINS. LATER IT STOPPED WORKING, NO SMOKE, NO NOISE, JUST STOPPED.IT'S BEEN TWO HOURS AND STILL NOTHING(I CHECKED MY BREAKERS JUST TO BE SURE- IT'S THE SANDER!) MY HUSBAND IS A CONTRACTOR AND WE HAVE MANY DEWALT TOOLS, ALL OF THEM FANTASTIC!! BUT IN THIS CASE I WOULD JUST MOVE ON TO ANOTHER BRAND, I WILL TOMORROW WHEN I RETURN THE SANDER FOR THE SECOND TIME. $200.00 DOLLARS!!!- WHAT A JOKE